Yesterday at church I was approached by someone who doesn't normally speak with me. I don't mean he ignores me, it's just that I'm at a big church and there are many people I don't get to see, and that's fine. This particular person is someone with whom I've had contact in the past so I thought it was nice that he came up for a chat. After a few minutes of chit chat and asking me how I am etc he said, "By the way, we have [an event] coming up and I really need people to help with the set up and cleaning up after it. I don't want to ask anyone with a family because they are too busy so I thought you could help."

Okay, this drives me wild for two reasons. Firstly, I hate being treated like I don't exist until someone wants something. It's downright insulting. Secondly, I resent the implication that single people and/or people without children are always available to drop everything and help with every event that comes up. This is NOT to say that people with kids aren't busy; what makes me angry is the belief that the rest of us have no life and no commitments.

So here's a tip I'll give you for nothing - if you ONLY speak to me when you want something, and treat me like I'm invisible the rest of the time, it's very unlikely I'll be inclined to help you. Further, don't make assumptions about my social life and other commitments. Given that you haven't bothered to give me the time of day up until now there's a very good chance that you know exactly nothing about my life..

The thing is, he's actually a really nice guy and I'm sure he would have been completely confused by my annoyance, nor would I want to hurt him... which means I didn't even get the satisfaction of telling him to bugger off.

Not that I would do such a thing. Especially at church. No, no, not at all. Never. *ahem*

Random facts about me

• I love God and I strive to be like Jesus. I fail a lot at this, but am happy that God loves me anyway.
• I am turning 40 this year but trying not to have a crisis about that.
• I am constitutionally incapable of opening a packet from the 'wrong' end.
• I read a lot and have been known to flick ahead a few chapters when I'm worried about the fate of one of the characters.
• I paint a little, write a little and knit a little; and I don't mind that my enthusiasm far outweighs my talent.
• I find grammatical and literary jokes hilariously funny. Apparently this makes me a total geek.
• I like meeting new bloggers and will happily visit your blog if you leave a comment.